Meals and more meals.

Food ranks with sleep as one of the most hateable things that we love. There's a never ending demand for it that could drive you out of your mind if you stopped to think about it, but we delight in doing everything we can to make it as good as possible.

We bought new pillows for our bed today. I put them in cases and instantly flopped on the bed to "try them out."  Not that my 10 hours in bed last night wasn't enough....

----------

So. Menu? I didn't come up with a distinct plan. I bought chicken breasts, sausage, ground beef and a roast. Strawberries were on sale (4 pounds for 5 dollars) so I got 8 pounds of them and, after dipping enough for Easter Sunday, I will slice and freeze the lot of them. Also got plain yogurt so Quinn can beef up his protein shakes. I stuck some of it in the freezer. We'll see how well that works.

Picking up fruit and veggies tomorrow. I have a lot of rice and a lot of brown beans. I love stir fries and when you're making them for two people then broccoli and shredded carrots and a few bell peppers go a long way over rice. Don't even need any seasoning other than salt and black pepper. 

Need to make sure and keep the fresh whole wheat bread made. It's a great filler and the fiber from the fresh ground flour keeps the carb count down.

Meals for the coming week:

Eggs and bread/granola/pancakes for breakfasts


-Pancakes-
2 cups whole wheat flour (if you have to buy it from the super market then half whole wheat, half basic white flour)
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Veggie/chicken stir fry over basmati- several times

Roast beef and potatoes- then stew with the leftovers.
(super easy. Just made a pot with nothing but beef, potatoes, frozen corn and carrots in it and it's super yummy. If you like it thick, whisk a little cold water and flour together and add that to your simmering broth.)

Whole Wheat Penne with sausage marinara.
(since I don't make 20 qt batches of homemade sauce like my Mom does, I sautee italian sausage, minced garlic and an onion together, add a can of my favorite brand of mushroom marinara, throw in some extra italian season and a bay leaf and let it simmer. It turns out pretty okay. Not as good as the from-scratch stuff that I'm used to, but it kills the sugary canned taste.)

Brown beans and corn bread

(also easy. leave the beans in a bowl of water over night, rinse them and dump them in a crock pot with a ham hock and half an onion and cook them at 350 all day.)



And so on so forth.  Easter we're doing a light cold lunch of chicken salad croissants, fruit salad and chips with pound cake and chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. I'm looking forward to that... very much.

--------------


Baby has refused to fit any of the names we've been trying on him, so we'll keep trying.

He also decided to sit on a nerve all day yesterday, making it impossible for me to walk more than a few steps without shooting pain through my lower abdomen.  It made water aerobics difficult, so I pretty much just stood still and kept my arms moving. Figured it was better than nothing.

Also, since Tuesday night, my legs have been numbish and weak and I've been fighting dizzy spells. I've been having a hard time walking in general without them (my legs) buckling underneath me, and had to sit down twice to get through a shower.  Therefore, we had cold cereal for breakfast and Quinn had to wash dishes to make lunch. I'm about to put rice in the oven and start some chicken simmering for dinner, but I'm honestly not sure how I'm gonna make a meal happen. I gained 4 pounds in 4 days this week, which I've been told is a blood volume rise, and I'll just have to let my body reset for a little while. Blech. This sweet baby boy is creating quite a lifestyle shift already....

---------------

Air conditioning is on. Our appartment faces west, so as soon as the sun shifts low we get baked. Feels like such a wast of song birds and breezes to have the windows closed though.


---------------
Signing out. Thanks for reading. Comments? Food ideas? Favorite stir fry seasonings?